Nabin Pegu, chairman of the Silapathar Town Committee said the long-pending demand for a hospital has been fulfilled and comes as a boon for the people of the area who are dependent only on Dibrugarh Medical College and Dhemaji civil.

Manivannan said there are two such hospitals in Dhemaji and another at Jonai. Machkhowa, a remote area in the district, is also in need of a hospital.

The new hospital will have departments of gynaecology, surgery, anaesthesia, medicine, radiology and pathology, the deputy commissioner said, appealing to the people to make maximum use of the facilities.

Kishore Kumar Kaman, deputy superintendent of the hospital, said a nutritional rehabilitation centre with 10 beds was also available.

Free medicines and nutritional diet would be provided to the children, he added.